England ratings vs Iceland

Where do you start? The Three Lions have been knocked out by Iceland, a country with a similar population as Coventry’s. While full credit must go to the impressive Icelandic’s who are proving to be a resilient match for every team so far it should take nothing away from what was the most dispiriting England performance in years. Despite making a bright start taking the lead through a Wayne Rooney penalty in the opening minutes, Iceland made an instant reply and were then 2-1 up inside 20 minutes. It couldn’t get much worse though could it? It did, and then some with what was an excruciatingly bad performance. I rate the England players individually as part of a horrific team performance.

Joe Hart – 3/10

A shame that our most passionate player has effectively made the fatal error knocking the country out of Euro 2016. He let a relatively tame shot squirm through him to give Iceland the lead they would have been dreaming of. A big error aside he was also unconvincing when claiming a high ball which escaped him but was a little bit fortunate to receive a free kick following a perceived foul on him. The Man City ‘keeper made a couple of straight forward saves after but it couldn’t save his embarrassment.

Kyle Walker – 3/10

Two fantastic performances before he was dropped to the bench against Slovakia, the Spurs full back’s performance couldn’t have contrasted much more. He was glaringly at fault for the equaliser losing his marker who slid home. He then was wasteful with the ball and had no attacking threat that he posed earlier in the tournament.

Gary Cahill – 5/10

A player that can at least be pleased with his contributions over the whole tournament. A fair share of fans were worried that Cahill would not be good enough to keep oppositions at bay but he has been a composed and assured figure. He failed to stop Sigthorsson’s shot which lead to the second goal but he was at least more competent at his duties that most last night.

Chris Smalling – 4/10

The Man Utd centre half went into Euro 2016 as England’s first choice centre half. That’s worrying when he really hasn’t put in a good performance in four games. He’s looked uneasy and that was the case against Iceland making panicky decisions and being wasteful building from the back.

Danny Rose – 4/10

Another player who had impressed prior to being dropped vs Slovakia. Rose was not his usual self bombarding down the left hand side on the overlap. Instead while he wasn’t as wasteful as his team mates, he contributed next to nothing going forwards and failed to stretch the oppositions back line.

Eric Dier – 5/10

Taken off at half time, Dier has been superb all tournament however he struggled to establish himself in this contest where in fairness to him it is difficult to make things happen from so deep. He didn’t cut off the pass which lead to the second goal and in general in what a game where he couldn’t get fully going.

Dele Alli – 3/10

A supposed superstar in this Three Lions team, I cannot recall anything Alli has done all tournament. He put in another shoddy performance where he couldn’t even do the basics. He took up some good positions and kept it simple prior to this game but even that was missing. Woeful but the fact that he is young will get him off the hook which is understandable.

Wayne Rooney – 3/10

Scored from the spot from 12 yards but then failed to make even simple passes of similar range after. It was a bit of a horror show in truth. You could tell the Captain was determined to change fortunes but he was a major culprit as to where it all went wrong giving the ball away relentlessly.

Daniel Sturridge – 3/10

A lovely ball early on set Sterling away to get England the early penalty. Sturridge was playing as a right winger and my word was it an ugly sight. He slowed the play down and failed to beat a man or pick the right pass after 5 minutes. He did try at times to track his man back but it was a poor showing all round.

Raheem Sterling – 4/10

A much improved performance from last time out which sadly tells a very bad story about English football. England’s only natural wide man won the penalty making a good move in behind the Iceland defence. He did start the game relatively well not losing the ball but remember this man cost £49 million.

Harry Kane – 2/10

Hit a sweet volley in the first half, that was it, in the game, in the tournament, that was it. England’s leading marksman has carried next to no threat and even then has failed to really build attacks. He wasted a couple of decent chances but hitting free kicks so far and wide repeatedly is unacceptable when England needed those type of situations to at least give the Iceland defence something to ponder. Hitting long range shots showed how clueless the side were and Kane’s decision making was mystifying to say the least.

Substitutes

Jack Wilshere – 3/10

Woeful from a player of supposed great ability on the ball. Contributed nothing and hindered the team if anything.

Jamie Vardy – 5/10

Make very little impact but his presence and grit was something England lacked. He tried to get attacks moving but his team mates couldn’t deliver.

Marcus Rashford – 9/10

The 18 year old came on for 5 minutes and was England’s best player. He simply picked the ball up on the left hand side when experienced players along side him didn’t have the nerve, drove past his man a few times and came the closest anyone had to providing the answer. Absolutely brilliant young man, what a shame you weren’t deployed earlier.